EAN: 9783110485967

WAR AND ETHICS IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST - CARLY...

The monograph considers the relationships of ethical systems in the ancient Near East through a
study of warfare in Judah  Israel and Assyria in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. It
argues that a common cosmological and ideological outlook generated similarities in ethical
thinking. In all three societies  the mythological traditions surrounding creation reflect a
strong connection between war  kingship and the establishment of order. Human kings' military
activities are legitimated through their identification with this cosmic struggle against chaos
begun by the divine king at creation. Military violence is thereby cast not only as morally
tolerable but as morally imperative. Deviations from this point of view reflect two phenomena:
the preservation of variable social perspectives and the impact of historical changes on
ethical thinking.The research begins the discussion of ancient Near Eastern ethics outside of
Israel and Judah and fills a scholarly void by placing Israelite and Judahite ethics within
this context  as well as contributing methodologically to future research in historical and
comparative ethics.

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